The Girl Next Door
by kaseym
Summary: Abby moves to a small town in Georgia and ends up neighbors with Daryl and Merle Dixon. Ever since Abby laid her eyes on Daryl she started to develop feelings for him. So what's the problem? Abby may not live long enough to even become friends with Daryl because ever since she was sixteen she knew she was destined to die at a young age. Abby has Leukemia.
1. Chapter 1

What would you do if you found out you were destined to die young? Would you become depressed? Suicidal? Or live life to the fullest? Or maybe a bit of all three?

Abby Blackwell knew from the young age of sixteen that it was possible that she would die by the time she was eighteen because Abby had been diagnosed with Leukemia. Since she was always sick and had a low immune system Abby had been taken out of public school and placed in an online school that she could do from home. Her parent's ended up working all the time so they didn't have to see their daughter grow weaker and weaker and so that they could afford her treatments. They ended up moving to a small trailer in a southern town in Georgia so they could put as much money as possible toward getting her a bone marrow transplant. The trailer was in a small trailer park and it was in the lower class neighborhood. Their little trailer was a pale shade of yellow with two bedroom and one bathroom and Abby's parents continued to tell her to stay inside and not to leave unless they were home which was maybe a few hours a week and seemed pointless to her since she was now only six months away from turning eighteen.

Abby was at home in her small bedroom doing her school work when she heard a door slam and caused her to jerk back and fall of her bed. Rubbing her back where she hit it on the corner of her nightstand she gets up and opens her window wondering who was making such a racket.

Looking out of her window she see two men standing in their yard a few feet away arguing over the hood of a pale blue old pickup truck. The older man glanced up from the hood to see Abby watching them and nudged the younger man and both turned to where Abby was and the old man winked causing Abby to flush scarlet and the younger man just scowled at her and went back to working on whatever it was.

"ey sugar, Why don' ya come on over here and get a closer look?" The man howled. "I promise I don' bite much!"

Abby jumped and quickly closed her window and pulled close the curtains and could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

"Yea right..." she mumbled to her self. Glancing around her room she eyes the clock that shows it only being ten o'clock so she had around seven hours until her parents came back from work.

Abby couldn't stand being stuck in the house all day everyday so she decided to take a walk around the park and look around. She had lived here for almost a month and had only been outside a handful of times.

Grabbing some clothes she changed from her shorts and tank top and slides on a knee-length white skirt and a light pink tee-shirt. Brushing her light brown hair back and looking in the mirror she sighs looking at her pale, sickly complexion. Her green eyes seemed dull and sunken in and her cheeks were starting to lose color.

"Well I guess this is as good as its going to get.." she frowns.

Outside she can see that only the younger man was out and he was still working on his truck and seemed to have a permanent frown on his face. There are only a few trailers and it seems as though the place was deserted. The only noise in the whole place was the occasional grunts and the sounds of metal hitting metal.

Slowly walking around she smiles at the warm summer sun's heat warming her pale skin and the cool breeze blowing and she for once felt calm and at ease.

Abby was walking back toward her house with her face still lifted to the sun when she walked into something hard and fell down onto her back.

Sitting up she realizes she had knocked into her neighbor with the truck and the both fell down on the ground. She watched him and he sat up and glared at her while he stood up and dusted the dirt off.

"Are ya stupid or something? Cover ya self up and get!" He sneered. Cover up? Cover what up? She just looked up at him in confusion.

Daryl was extremely pissed off. First the hose in his truck busts then while he's trying to fix it, Merle keeps on talking about "a sweet piece of ass" next door and now said girl knocks into him and is too stupid to notice that her fuck'in skirt is around her waist and her panties are on display. Groaning he bends down and grab the end on her skirt and pull in back down so she covered and walks away. He can already tell this chick is gonna be trouble.

Abby could feel her heart in her throat and it felt like all her blood went to her face. She had never felt so embarrassed in her entire life. Even though it had been hours since their encounter she could still feel her face was red. Even as she showered, ate, finished her school work and watched TV she could feel her heart thumping. Maybe she was getting sick? She'd have to get her mom to take her back to the doctor.

The next day her mother took her to the doctor and turns out nothing was wrong with her physically. She was so lost, why did her body react like that?

The next few days went by slowly and every time she saw that man, she could feel her heart skip a beat. He was so handsome. He had short dark brown hair with the most amazing blue eyes she had ever seen. She also learned that his name was Daryl and the older man was his brother Merle. She was beginning to feel like a stalker but when he would be outside she couldn't help but watch him while he moved. He was skinny but also muscular and it seemed like her never wore anything with sleeves and even his jumpsuit that he wore to work had the sleeves torn off. He was even more good looking when he was dirty and covered in oil and sweat and a few times she had seen him when he wasn't frowning but not even close to smiling.

She wanted to talk to Daryl and apologize but the time never seemed right. Finally a week later she waited for her parent's to leave for work and she got dressed and decided to go to town to get her mind off everything. She was excited to go out so she put on her best dress and she even put on make up. Her dress was a pale blue that was a spaghetti strap and snug at the top but flowed out at the middle of her stomach. She pair the dress with some white flats and she even straightened her hair and put some light blue eyeshadow on to complete the look. She actually felt pretty and hoped today would be a good day.

The town was small but a lot of the people were really nice. She went into a few stores and window shopped. An older lady even told her their was a pet store a few blocks down and Abby had always wanted a dog but since she was sick her parents wouldn't allow it.

"Oh wow!" she said in awe. She had never seen a pet store this close and it was amazing! The store was a small brick building across from an auto shop and she couldn't wait to go in. Walking in there were little cages filled with hamsters and rats on one side and the other had kennels with a few dogs and cats and there were a batch of newborn kittens running around inside. She could feel a big smile pulling at her lips and couldn't help herself from going over to the kittens and watch them play.

"Well I don't think I have seen someone look that happy in a long time."

Looking up I see a young Asian guy standing beside me smiling. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt and on his head was a baseball cap. "Oh, Hi." I say shyly. When it comes to meeting new people I am extremely shy.

He didn't seem to mind that I was shy and his smile just grew bigger. "My names Glenn. I haven't seen you around before. You new to town?"

I smile and nod. "My name is Abby. I just moved her a few weeks ago."

"Well Abby it's nice to meet you." Glenn says. "Would you like to hang out some time?"

"Sure" I reply. It would be nice to have a real friend for once.

We talked for a few more minutes until he had to leave to go to work and before he left he gave me his phone number. Glenn was hands down, the sweetest boy she'd ever met and he was only two years older than her.

Abby was leaving the pet store when she looked at the auto shop and what she saw made her heart stop and her face to flush all at the same time. Right across the street was the man she couldn't stop thinking about, Daryl.


	2. Chapter 2

He was in the garage working on a motorcycle and had a streak of oil smeared on his cheek and she still thought he was the best looking man she had ever seen.

Before she knew it she had unconsciously went closer and was just a few steps away from where he was. Going closer she stops just a step behind where he is crouch down messing with something on the bike with his back towards her. Slowly she reached out a touched his shoulder to get his attention and when her hand brushed his back he jerked away and jumped you turning towards her with his face in a scowl.

While looking her up and down his scowl never left his face. "What the hell you doin' here?! Shouldn't ya be home playing dress up." He snorted.

"I..i..uh.."She stuttered. The way he was looking at her made her feel scared. His eyes held no emotion other then annoyance and his eyes were cold.

His sneer grew and he felt his patience was growing thin. "Are you too stupid to understand? Or just too stupid to know how ta talk? Or maybe it's both?!"

It was too much. No one had ever been this mean to her and she guess that her sickness was the reason but she could feel her eyes watering and the sting of holding them back. She could feel her body shaking and looking into his eyes cause the tears to fall and she swallowed the lump in her throat that was threatening to choke her. Looking down I take a deep breath to steady her heart and looked up and once more looked into his amazing blue, but cold eyes. "All I wanted was to tell you I was sorry for knocking you down and fixing my skirt. Since it's obvious you hate me, ill be going."

As she left she didn't see the smirk that replace the sneer. Daryl felt a little guilty. He knew he was being harsh but the innocent look on her face pissed him off to no end. He wished she and her family would just move back to whenever they came from because they didn't belong in the trailer park. He could tell that the girl was a spoiled brat and she didn't belong here. Plus he didn't need some lil' girl coming near him, he don't need Merle or any other people thinkin' things. She looked like jail-bait and he don't need the stress. Heck Merle was still talkin' about her every chance he got.

Merle Dixon was a hard headed man. He didn't give a fuck what people thought of him and ya he like to have fun. When that sweet little thing moved in next door he couldn't help but tease his lil' brother when he caught her watching them. He knew the chick had the hots for Daryl and heck he had caught Daryl looking at her trailer a few times and after that Merle decided that it was time to be friendly and get to know his new neighbor.

Merle waited till her parents were off to work and around four in the afternoon he made his way next door. He knocked on the door and a few minutes later she popped her head out side and look confused when she saw him there. He smirked when he saw she probably just got out of bed. Her light brown hair was messy and she was wearing some fuzzy pajama pants with a small tank top that stopped right before it hit her belly button. She was real cute and definitely a virgin, she was short, about 5'4 and was skinny. Couldn't possibly weigh more then a hundred pounds soaking wet.

After he looked her over he couldn't help but notice the way the skin around her eyes sunk in and was turning a deep dark purple/black color and the way her face was so pale and thin. She looked like she was gonna fall over and die any minute now.

"Hey sugar, you feelin' alright?" he said while frowning. "You look like ya about to kill over."

"Oh, hey. I..uh..I'm fine. I just have a bit of a bad cold." She replied with a strained smile.

"Yea, and I'm the pope. Do ya need me to take ya to the hospital or sumthin'?" He asks. Normally he wouldn't bother with something like this but the girl looked really sick. For once Merle was actually worried.

"No I'm fine. I..just need to take my medicine and I'll be good as new." she says

She went to move and that's when her legs gave out and she could barely feel arms wrap around her then everything went black.

Merle barely got to her before she hit the floor and groaned. "Great... Hope her folks don't come back soon. Be kinda' hard to explain why a strange man is in their house and their daughters knocked out."

Merle carried her into the back and kicked open the doors trying to find her bedroom. He found her room at the last door and laid her down on top on the small twin sized mattress. Looking around the room he sees a few pictures of her growing up and a couple posters. Her room is what a typical teenagers room would look like and it was very girly. Her bedding is a hot pink and she had a lot of different sized and colored pillows covering the top of the bed. Scratching the back of his head he tries to think of what to do. Reaching over he presses two fingers against her neck to find her pulse and sighs with relief when he finds it. Next he feels her forehead to find that she's burning up and he knows that he needs to get her temperature down. He spends a few minutes going through the bathroom and kitchen for rags and some ice water and he spent an hour and a half applying the wet cloth to her head and arms and legs.

"Well sugar I think that should help. I'm gonna run over to my place real fast and get some stuff and I'll be right back. Don't ya worry, ol'Merle will be back and I'll take care of ya." He whispered.

When Merle walked in Daryl grunted at him with a raise eyebrow. Clearly he was wanting to know where he's been. Merle ignored him and went into the bathroom and got a bottle of fever reducer and then went to his room and changed into some clean clothes. Once he had the things he needed he walked back into the living room and grabbed his wallet and keys and heads for the door but stops when Daryl asks "Where yo goin'?"

"I'm goin' next door."Merle smirks.

Daryl jumps up and didn't even try to mask his anger. "What tha fuck?!"

"What?" Merle asks

"Man, ya wanna go back to jail?! She don't even look legal!" Daryl sneered

"Man, mind ya own business. Girly's sick so I was gonna bring her some stuff to help."

Daryl just snorts. "Really? You spect me to believe that?"

Rolling his eyes he goes back to her house and after checking her temperature he leaves the meds and a note and heads out to meet a buddy at the bar. He knew he probably should take her to the hospital but she seemed pretty determined to make him think she was fine.


	3. Chapter 3

Abby was out for a couple more hours until she heard her bedroom door open. Her parents came in a checked on her and after she told them she was fine, they went off to bed and Abby sat there on her bed trying to remember what happened after she opened the door. She remembers getting up from bed at the sound of hearing someone knock and opening the door but then that's where her mind draws a blank. She reaches for to turn on her lamp when her hand brushes something hard on her nightstand. Grabbing the hard object and turning on her light she sees it's a box of fever reducer and there was a note attached to it. The note said "Stopped by and saw you were sick so I left these for ya."

Slowly things were coming back to her and she remembers passing out when Merle showed up and she felt so embarrassed. She now had to make it up to both of the brothers and she wasn't sure what she should do. Maybe she could give them something as an apology? But what could she give them? She had no money.

Checking online she looks up some handmade gifts and found a link about origami paper stars and cranes. The web page said that it was if you could fold a thousand paper crane that you'd get a free wish. Smiling she pulls out some paper and starts folding paper cranes with all different colors. Hopefully she won't embarrass herself any further and she really wants to be friends with Daryl and maybe even Merle.

It took her about a week and a half but she had finally folded two thousand paper cranes. She made them small so she could put them in small jars and put a pale pink ribbons around the top to finish them and planned to take them over the next day.

When she woke up she checked her clock and jumped out of bed when the clock struck eight and got dressed. She was trying to hurry so she threw on a pair on black shorts and a tee-shirt and picked up the jars and quickly made her way next door. It seemed as though no one was there so she decided to just leave the jars on their steps with a note and just as she went to sit them down the door flew open and out came Daryl with his usual frown that grew into a sneer at the sight of her.

"Um..i just wanted to give these to.." she started to say but was cut off by Daryl. "I don't care. Go on and Git. Merle ain't here to play with." While walking stepping around her. He hated her being so close, She was just too innocent and it pissed him off beyond belief! Everywhere he turned there she was!

Now Abby was getting sick and tired of him being mean to her for no reason. She wondered what she did to make him hate her and she was determined to find out what his problem was. Reaching out she grabs the back on his plaid button down and pulls as hard as she can. She may not have much strength but luckily she's able to yank him back a little.

"What the hell?! Let go! Stupid bitch!"He yells while trying to jerk free but Abby refuses to let go. "No! I'm not letting go until you tell me why you hate me so much!" She yells with tears in her eyes.

He rolls his eyes "I don't hate you, your just fuckin' annoyin'." while removing her hands and staring her down.

"Daryl..i just really want to be friends with you. If it's because I knocked you down that time than I'm truly sorry! I didn't mean to and that day when I was at the auto shop I just happened to have seen you so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to apologize... but every time I did try to say sorry everything just went wrong."

Daryl was feeling very guilty, her face was a mix of worry, sadness and hope. He knew she was just a kid and she didn't know that it wasn't her fault he acted like this. Heck he doesn't know how else to react to things and he hated to admit it but this girl had something that made him shiver. God he felt like such a pervert when he felt his chest tightens at the sight of those big green eyes full of tears.

Sighing ran his hand through his hair and avoided her eyes. He knew he would feel like a jack-ass if he didn't agree to be her friend so with a strained voice he tells her that he would be friends with her.

He didn't expect her to get so excited over it though but as soon as the words left his mouth her eyes, if possible, seemed to get even bigger and even had a fuckin' sparkle to them. Her sad frown turned into a big smile and the next thing she did shocked the hell out of him and caused him to tense up. She fuckin' _Hugged_ him! He couldn't move or even breath and he guess she realized he didn't like to be touch and quickly let go and then she could see him relax.

She wanted to do something now that she made a friend so she speedily came up with an idea. "Daryl come over to my house and we can play!"

"_What?!" _he hissed in embarrassment. There's no way this girl just asked him to come "_play"_ with her!

"yea! I have a PlayStation!We can play black ops!" she squealed.

He felt like an idiot and again felt like an even bigger pervert, she literally wanted to play. When she went to grab the front of his shirt and started pulling him towards her house he just let her. How bad could it be to just give her a few minutes of attention to get her off his back.

When she pulled him into her bedroom he could feel his hands going sweaty and when she told him to sit on her bed while she got the controllers he just stared at it like if he got too close it would bite him. He didn't know why he was feeling this way but he wished it would just stop. He went an sat down on the edge of her bed near her TV and when she bent over in front of him to pick up the controls he felt his pants tighten and had an incredibly strong urge to throw her on the bed and take her. Groaning he shifts and grabs one of the many pillows and uses it to cover the growing erection before she could notice. They play black ops for a couple of hours and she beats him every single time at a zombie survival game and he actually enjoys himself.

"Yer cheatin'!" He shouts as zombies reaches out for him.

"Am not! Your just bad!" She shouts back.

Daryl smirk. "Ya think I'm bad? Girl you haven't seen bad yet"

"Why are you getting so close? Wait..Daryl...Stop..WAIT! No!..no!.." she squeals as Daryl walked towards her like an animal stalking it's pray and then he jumps and starts tickling her sides.

That's right, Daryl Dixon the baddest mother fucker in Georgia, was laughing and tickling a girl.


	4. Chapter 4

Daryl was pulled from his thoughts by a loud knock on the door. Getting up he opens the door and see Abby standing there in a white dress smiling up at him.

"What ya doin' here so early?" Glancing at his watch it was barely nine in the morning.

"Merle promised to take me fishing today." She said. "Is he here?"

"Yea, he's in his room. I'll get em for ya." He said and started to walk towards the back.

"Wait! It's okay! I'll get him." She called out and walked in.

"Ya sure? Merle's not a very happy person in the mornin'." He remembered once Merle nearly beat him for waking him up before noon.

"I'm sure! It's no problem!" she said and skipped happily to Merle's bedroom.

Daryl sat back down on the couch and waited to hear him yelling and her cryin' but neither happened. He almost fell of the couch when he heard Merle's booming laughter from his room and the unmistakeable giggling from Abby. Jumping up and walking as quietly as possible he peeked into the room and saw Merle bent over Abby's tiny frame on his bed with his hands at her sides tickling her as hard as he could.

Shaking his head he walks into his room and lays on his bed and tries to go to sleep and just as he started to fall asleep Abby came busting into his room making him jump.

"Damn it girl! You can't just come bargin' in a man's room!" He yelled.

"Oh!.. Daryl, I'm sorry. I just wanted to come ask you to come fishing with us and I guess I got so excited that I wasn't thinking." She said rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"Why ya want me to come?" He asks curiously.

Putting her hands on her hip and tilting her head to the side she smiles. "Cause I like ya! Why wouldn't I want to hang out with you?"

His heart stated beating hard and his hands started to sweat when she said "I like ya." He wasn't stupid to believe that a girl like her would "Like, Like" him but it felt kinda nice to know that she wanted him to be around her.

Grunting he gets up and grabs his leather vest and followed her outside to meet Merle out in the truck and almost laughed when he watched Abby trying to hop in. She was tiny and getting in the truck would be hard for any normal sized girl and it seemed almost damn impossible for her.

Before he could realize what he was doing he leaned over and picked her up by her hips and lifted her in and when he pushed her into the truck her ass was level with his eyes and he could clearly see her panties through he thin white dress and with it being such a sunny day her dress was almost sheer. Jerking back and letting her go, he caused Abby to lose her balance and fall backwards and tumble down on him and he instinctively went to steady her by wrapping his arms around her to protect her during the fall.

From their position on the ground he felt Abby freeze in his lap and he worried that she some how had gotten hurt. That thought flew from his mind almost immediately once he heard his brother's obnoxious laughter. He then realized that when he grabbed her during their fall, that he didn't grab her waist like he thought, Daryl had ended up cupping both of her tits instead.

Letting go he jumped away from her and glared at his brother who was still leaned over in his seat holding his stomach from laughing so hard.

Reaching down he hoists up Abby who was still sitting in the dirt in shock. He doesn't look at her for the entire ride to the lake and even then he made sure to stay at least a few steps away from her at all times.

Abby had sat there on the small dock and listened to Merle as he explained how to hook bait and how to find the best places to cast the line when she felt the pain starting back. She was almost always in pain and tried to keep from taking the pain pills her doctor gave her, but the longer she sat there in the hot sun the more painful things got and she just couldn't take it anymore.

"Um.. I'll be right back. I'm going to get something I left in the truck." She said and hurried to the truck to get to the bag she brought. Dumping everything out of the bag she took deep breaths to help calm the pain and sighs in relief when she finds the small bottle of pain pills. Popping open the top and shaking out a small white pill she tosses it back and dry swallows it while gagging at the nasty medicine taste.

She lean against the tail gate and then slid down to where she was laying back on the tire and closed her eyes hoping the pain would stop. She squeezed the prescription bottle in her hand and breathed in deeply as the burning began to fade away to an uncomfortable throbbing and opened her heavy eye lids and stared off at the woods.

She was so out of it that when she heard the light foot steps heading her way that she didn't have time to hide the pills so she moved the bottle behind her back and hoped whoever it was wouldn't notice. The foot steps finally reached her and she found herself looking up at Daryl. She didn't know what to do so she just gave him a tiny smile and prayed that he would just leave so she could get up so she could return her medicine to it's hiding place.

"ey, you alright?" He asked squatted down in front of her.

"I'm fine I just got over heated. I'll be back in a minute once I cool off." She lies.

She wasn't sure if he bought it or not but he just nodded and stood up and walked away. Relieved she jumps up and opens her bag to put them away when a hand shot out and grasped her wrist.

"Ah!" she yelled in shock.

Turning around to face Daryl she sees that he was glaring at the pills and then glared at her. "What? You an addict or sumthin'?"

"No! I..i just have bad migraines!" she said panicking.

"whatever ya say.." he said not entirely believing her but leaving it alone.

They head back to the dock and Merle finishes teaching her the basic and helps her cast the line. The sun was going down and she had yet to catch anything. Merle and Daryl had both caught at least two fish each and she was sad that she hadn't got a single fish.

"Aw man..You guys make it look so easy!" she says pouting at Merle.

"Well we had a lot of practice." Merle says smirking.

"But I reallyyy wanted to catch something!" she said still pouting.

"Well I guess we can stay a little bit longer and ol'Merle with help ya." He said ruffling her hair.

Daryl just scoffed and leaned back on a tree and pulled out his pocket knife and started cleaning his nails.

Merle's smirk just got bigger and turned to his brother. "What's wrong lil'brother? Sumbody jealous?"

Daryl didn't say anything but just glared at him then went back to fiddling with his knife. Eventually we had to leave and Merle promised to take me fishing again since I couldn't get anything and we drove home. By the time we left it was starting to get really dark and with a tiring day and a long ride Abby fell asleep.

Daryl was staring out of the window when Abby's head fell over onto his should. As he watched her sleep he thought back to earlier when he found her by the truck. The way she reacted to him seeing the pills had him wondering why she was taking them. He wasn't sure what they were but with Merle's history he knew that they must have been strong pain pills. She said they were for her head but something in him thought otherwise by the way her eyes twitched. He knew that she had to be lying and he was disappointed with her. If she was addicted he and Merle could try and help her. Merle was finally trying to get clean after he almost died by an overdose and if he could get clean then she could too.

A minute later they were back at the trailer park and he gently woke her up and when she saw that she had slept on him she apologized and blushed which he thought was cute. Wait...since when did he think she was cute?! She was just an annoying brat with a drug problem...Oh who was he kidding. His feelings for her were growing stronger and he needed to get her out of his head before he did something that would get him thrown in jail.

When he and his brother walked into their place he told him they needed to talk about something.

"What?"

"When I was baiting my hook I noticed Abby had been gone for awhile and so I went to check on her and I found her sitting on the ground and she said she was just over heated but I thought something was up so I walked away but came back and she was tryin' to hide a bottle of pain pills from me and when I asked her about it, she froze up and stuttered sayin' they were for migraines. Merle I think she was lying."

"Ya think she has a drug problem or sumthin'?" he asked.

Daryl nods. "Yea, I don't gotta lot of proof but If she does have a problem then you'd be able to find out."

"What do ya want me to do? Search her room for them?"

"Yea, you'd know what to look for. Merle if she is addicted then we needa do sumthin'."

"True lil' brother. I know how hard it is and I wouldn't be able to stand it if she went down the same path I have. She's too good for that kinda life. I'll do what I can." Merle said.

Merle was worried. He had grown close to her and the thought of that sweet girl doing the things he did was making him sick. He won't let her do that. He just recently started to clean up his act and after almost dying from a stupid overdose, he knew how short life was and he would do everything to help that girl from making the same mistakes.

Merle decided to go right then to check her room to see if It was true. He used the spare key under the potted plant by the front door and let himself in. He waited for a little while and checked to make sure she was asleep before he began searching. He looked in the living room, kitchen, and bathroom and didn't see anything. He then went into her room lastly and looked around. She was in her bed clutching the pink rabbit that he had given her and frowning in her sleep. He checked in her drawers and on the dresser and desk but couldn't find anything. Her bag that she had brought with them was laying in her desk's chair and he lightly pulled it open and dug around and pulled out the prescription bottle. Looking at the label it was prescribed to her and he thought it was too high of a dosage to be for headaches. He searched for a bit longer but couldn't find anything else and went to leave. He was about to shut her door when he happened to glance down to the underneath part of her bed and he noticed a hot pink bag shoved under. Going back into the room he pulls out the bag and quietly unzips it and finds several prescription bottles. They all had her name on the label's but there were so many there and the dates where ranging from a few years ago until just recently. He memorized the name of the pills and re-zipped the bag and left the room. Walking into the hallway there is a calendar hanging up and curiosity got the best of him and he went to checked it out. Nothing really stood out to him. All there was is a few dates written down and he flipped back to the last month and there was one date stood out to him. On it had the words "Chemo-Treatment" in bold letters and he realized that two days later was the day he took care of her after she passed out on him. He could feel his eyes widen and his heart felt like it stopped. He must be imagining it. It had to be a mistake but he knew what Chemo was for. He just hoped that he was wrong about it though. He made his top priority to find out what that medicine is for before he jumps to conclusions.

That night Merle couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned all night long and it didn't help that when he got back that Daryl wanted to bomb him with questions and all he could say was he didn't find anything. He tried and tried to sleep but soon he just gave up and sat up for the rest of the night thinking. As soon as it hit eight in the morning he got up and got dressed and drove to the local clinic. He walked in and waited until he was called in and a doctor came out and showed him into his office.

"Hello, My name is Dr. Jones. What can I do for you?" He asked leaning back into his chair.

"Doc, I wanted to ask ya if you know what Gleevec is?" He was afraid of the answer but he needed to know.

Dr. Jones leaned over and began to type of his computer and after a few seconds he looked back over at Merle. "Gleevec?"

Merle Nodded.

Clearing his throat he looked at the screen then looked to face him. "Gleevec is a medicine used to help prevent certain cancers from spreading and reproducing in the body."

"Cancer?" Merle asked. He could feel his mouth go dry and his chest ache.

The doctor just nodded his head.

Standing up Merle heads to the door and stops. Turning to the doctor he thanks him and leaves the office and heads to his motorcycle. Sitting down he lays his head on the handle bars and he could feel his body shaking.

How could fate be so cruel? To give a sweet, innocent girl cancer? Abby was just a teenage! She had barely lived and was cursed to die young! He suddenly felt angry. He had grown to like the girl, heck maybe even love her, and he didn't know if she would be here for long. She comes into his life and for once he cares about another person other then his brother and fate has decided to take her from them! Even though Daryl denies it, he knows that deep down, he cares about her too. Slamming the key into the ignition he stomps on the gas and speeds back to the house. He needed to talk to Abby and ask her if it was true.


	5. Chapter 5

Abby was laying on her bed on her stomach taking a nap with her ear buds in listening to "Pumped up kicks" by Foster The People when she felt someone lightly stroking her hair. Opening her eyes and shifting her head she sees a big hand gently helping her up. Confused she looks up at Merle wondering what he was doing here and why he was petting her. He doesn't answer her but just sits down beside her and pulls her over towards him. She could see him taking a deep breath and he seemed really nervous about something.

"Merle? What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asks.

He just starts chuckling. He looks at her and shakes his head. "Your askin' me if I'm alright? Darlin' is there sumthin' your keepin' from me?"

She starts to panic. He knows..How can he know?! She was so careful to hide it from them! "Merle...I..I'm not sure what you mean..."She lies.

"Baby girl. I know about the cancer." he says frowning.

Abby's heart stops. He really does know. She can't stop the flood of tears from flowing. Merle could feel his chest squeeze and he had to swallow his emotions back down. Grabbing her and pulling her into his arms he holds her to him as tight as possible with hurting her. He can feel her relaxing in his arms and soon her breathing evened out and she was asleep. Knowing her parent's won't be back anytime soon he lays down with her still in his arms and falls asleep with her in his warm embrace.

Daryl was wondering where Merle could have gone. It had been hours since he last saw him. Last night he came in an refused to say anything when he asked if he had found anything at Abby's place and then when he woke up he had already left. Shaking his head he gets ready for work and leaves. He wonders what cause Merle to be actin' so weird.

He spends the next six hours working on rebuilding the engine on an old pickup and fixin' the motor on a bike. By the time his shift was over he was covered head to toe in motor oil and grease and had cut his palm open on a jagged piece of metal. His day was long and frustrating and he had to bite his tongue to keep from cussin' out a few of the customers who couldn't get it threw their head that it would take a few weeks for their parts to arrive. All he wanted to do was head home and shower and have a few cold beers.

Merle woke up to Abby moving around and checked his watch. He needed to head on back but he didn't feel right leaving her alone. He sighed and got up and moved a pillow where he was and covered her up. He quietly left and walked over to his place and went inside. Daryl was lounging on the couch drinking a beer and watching some hunting channel when he walked in.

"Yo. Where you been at?" Daryl asked.

"I was at Abby's." he replied. He decided not to tell him what was wrong with her. It wasn't his secret to tell and he knew Abby must have a reason she didn't want them to know and he would respect that. "By the way, Abby isn't an addict. She really does take them for her head."

Daryl nodded.

"Daryl?" Merle asked.

"yea?"

"Be nice to the girl. She don't need the stress." He said and went to his room.

Daryl was confused. Be nice to the girl? She don't need the stress? Whats that supposed to mean? Since when did Merle care about someone other than himself? The girl was truly something if Merle likes her enough that he'd say sumthin' like that.

Abby woke up and stretched. Looking around the room she noticed that Merle was gone and she frowned. He probably went and told Daryl all about her. She was terrified that they would treat her differently now. Would they ignore her? Or treat her like she was glass? She was more afraid of how Daryl would act. She really liked him and the thought of him being different towards her made her chest ache.

She needed to get away for a little while. Maybe she could call Glenn and hang out for a little while until she could calm down. Picking up her phone she dialed his number and after a few seconds he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Glenn?" she asked

"Yea?" he replied

"Great! It's Abby! You know, from the pet store?" She said

"Oh! Abby! Its awesome to hear from you! What's up?" he asked

"I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out today?"

"Sure. What do you have in mind?" he asked

"Wanna come over to my place and we can play some call of duty or something?"

"Uh yea sure. I'd like that." He said.

We spoke for a little long then she told him where she lived and he said he'd come over in half an hour. She got dressed and brushed her teeth and was combing her hair when there was a knock on the door.

She hurried and opened the door to see Glenn standing there awkwardly. Smiling she gave him a hug and pulled him inside and showed him around. Opening her bedroom she pulled out the games and they played a few rounds of call of duty and then they spent the rest of the time talking and watching movies on her computer. Glenn even showed her an online game where you can be a wizard and fight to save the wizard world. She really like Glenn. He is a major nerd but he is really nice to her. Sadly Glenn had to leave a bit later to go to work and Abby hung out in her room playing the game Glenn showed her but inside she was going crazy. She was bored of being by herself and desperately wanted to go next door but she was too scared to face them.

Merle stopped by Abby's and frowned. A young chink was walkin' outta her house with a big smile on his face. Merle couldn't help but smirk when the kid caught sight of him and hurried to his car. He waited for a couple minutes then invited himself in and went to Abby's room so they could talk. Opening the door he laughs. Abby was laying on her bed on he back half way off the bed and when she heard him come in she fell of the bed.

Walking over he lifts her up off the floor and sits her down on her bed and sits down beside her.

"So I guess we needa talk" He says patting her head.

"I didn't mean to lie..I just am tired of people treating me differently."She says

"I understand ya. I just wish I could do sumthin' to help ya." He replies

"The only thing that can help me is the chemo. If they could find a bone marrow donor then I could get better but so far the doctors' have not found a match that's willing to help me." She says wiping at her eyes.

"so if ya was to get someone willing that's a match then you'd be all better?" He asked.

"there's a chance it won't work but it's possible."

Merle decided then and there that he would do everything possible to help her. First thing he would do is find out If he was a match and if so he would give her all the bone marrow she needed.


	6. Chapter 6

Daryl felt like his brother and Abby were hiding something. It seemed like not matter what they did Merle was always watching Abby. He was even goin' gout of his way to do things for her like openin' the doors and pulling chairs out. He even noticed that Abby was trying to get closer to him. Every time she was in the room he would look over and she would be near him. It had been five days since he had accused her of being an addict and in his own way, had apologized. He had went out and bought her a bag of candy and she laughed askin' if he thought she was a kid. He simply told her he bought the kind that had the brightest packaging.

He even spent his days off with her and seemed like he was startin' to like her. He wanted to let her in but he would panic and tense up again. He was so used to it bein' just his and Merle until she moved next door...Heck he didn't even deny it when Merle tease him about likein' her anymore. He wanted her but just couldn't bring himself to make a move. He thought it would be best to not get close to her. Unfortunately had it seems like fate has it in for him...

Currently Abby was over and wanted him to watch a movie with her and she somehow talked Merle into going to get popcorn and pizza. Every time he'd move over she would scoot even closer to him then before.

Abby wanted to be with Daryl. Of course she knew that it probably one-sided but she wasn't gonna give up. She also didn't want to die a virgin. She thought "Why not sleep with Daryl? He's good-looking and she likes him so why not." She was slowly getting his walls to break down around her and she knew it was now or never.

"Hey." she whispered.

"What?" he asked turning towards her.

She took the opportunity and lightly pressed her lips to his. At first all he did was freeze up and tried to pull her away but she pressed her lips to his ever harder and that's when he snapped.

He jerked her up into his lap and when she gasped he plunged his tongue into her mouth. He wanted to scare her, to make her run away but she just kissed him back with equal if not more passion. The way her soft lip fit perfectly on his made him want to kiss her even more. He knew he should stop but when she ran her hands through his hair he lost it.

He slowly ran a rough hand down her hip and squeezed her closer so she was molded against him and when she let out a small moan that was when he realized what he was doing.

He pushed gently pushed her away and covered his face with his hands and groaned. "Shouldn't have done that."

"Daryl?" came her sweet voice

"Listen. Forget about it. It shouldn'ta happened and it an't gonna happen again." He said glaring at her.

"But.."She started to say but he cut her off "No. Forget about it. It was a mistake."

"Daryl! You kissed me back! You can't tell me that you didn't feel anything." she said.

He snorted. "What? You think I'd want a kid like you? So what if I kissed ya back? Don't mean nothin'."

She got up and left without saying anything. He knew he shouldn't have done that but she was too good for him. She's the type that will end up marrying some rich businessmen and move into a three story house and have lots of babies.

Abby felt awful. It was silly to think he'd want her. His type was probably big breasted blondes instead of small chested brunettes. She decided that if that was his type then so be it. She wasn't above changing how she looked to get him to see she was serious about him. That same day she bleached her hair and made a few adjustments to an outfit. She cut up a tee shirt so that her midriff was showing and cut up a pair of jeans into shorts that ended right before the middle of her thighs. She looked in the mirror and felt strange. She hoped that this would get Daryl's attention. Merle told her that morning they would be going to the local bar for a few drinks and she thought that this would be the perfect chance to try out her knew look.

The bar was scary looking but she knew they were here as Daryl's truck was parked outside and she could faintly hear Merle's booming laughter inside. Holding her head up high she walks in and glancing around she see the place is filled with biker and scary looking men.

At first she didn't see Daryl but after walking around she notices him sitting at the bar and a women is standing beside him flirting like crazy. Sticking out her chest and she heads over to where a few guys are standing around and bats her eyelashes at them and they instantly start hitting on her. She giggles at something one of the guys said and when he brushed a lock of her hair back she laughs loudly and smirks when she see that Daryl had stopped paying attention to the women and was now openly staring at her.

Brushing her hand down the man's arm he asks her to dance and she agrees and holds his hand as he walks her to the dance floor and they start dancing to an old school country song. They start off slow but quickly pick up the pace. She runs her hands down the front of his shirt and he spins her around and pushes his hips into her ass. Her smirk grows when she see Daryl clenching his fist and glaring hard at her dance partner and so to make him jealous she slowly grinds her body hard against the stranger.

She was starting to get into the dance when all of a sudden she is yanked away by a hand and pulled out of the bar and shoved against a familiar old pickup truck with his arms on either side of her head, caging her in.

"What the hell was that?!" Daryl growls angrily.

"What are you talking about?" She asks innocently looking up into his eyes.

"You know what I'm talkin' about! You was practically fuckin' the guy!" He yells with fire in his eyes.

"Daryl I wasn't doing anything. We were just dancing. No big deal." She says shrugging her shoulders.

"The fuck ya were. I saw the way you was grinding all over him and he was dry-humpin' ya for gods sake!" He shouts.

Crossing her arms she glares up at him. "Why do you care? So what If I wanna have some fun? Its none of your business!" She shouts back.

"Yes it is!" he yells and bring his face closer.

"Really? Last time I checked you rejected me!" she screams

"Well I changed my mind! No one other than me can touch ya! Yer mine!" He yells and claims her lips in a bruising kiss. He picks her up just by the back of her legs and pushes her into the side of the truck and deepens the kiss. He was tired of fighting his feelings for her so fuck it. He wanted her and she wanted him and that's all he needed.


	7. Chapter 7

When it came to her he was willing to do anything. He had known that he had feelings for her since the first time he meet her and he knew it was sudden but he was tired of fighting it. When it came to their age difference he knew people wouldn't understand but they would cross that bridge when they came to it. His life was much better with her in it and even Merle was changing with her in their life and for the better. Merle hadn't touch any drugs since he meet her and was staying clean for once in his life.

She could feel his excitement pressing into her and couldn't stop the low moan from escaping her lips. She could also feel his lips pull back into a smirk and pull her closer. She felt at peace with his lips pressed on hers and nothing could ruin this moment. Before the kiss could go any further he pulled away and leans his forehead against hers breathing heavily. He carefully sits her back down on the ground and looking into his eyes she sees they are clouded over with lust.

"I think I should take ya home so you can fix yourself." He smirks.

Looking down at her clothes she looks confused. "What do you mean? I thought you liked it?"

"Nah. I like you better when yer bein' you. Why did you do that anyway?"He asked while pulling a lock of her bleached hair.

Looking down she doesn't want to admit it. Daryl tips her head back "Why did you change how ya look?"

"I...i just wanted to be the type of girl you like. I thought that maybe if I change my appearance that you would want to be with me..."She says biting her bottom lip.

He shook his head and sighed. "Look darlin', it ain't that I didn't like they way you looked. It was a matter of not wantin' you to like me. I wanted to stay away from you so you would realize that I ain't worth it so you can find a decent guy that can give ya the things you want." he said scratching the back of head.

"Daryl...i really like you. I can't see any other guy." She said while reaching out of caress his cheek.

Leaning in to her hand he can feel his heart throbbing. He can't tell right now but with time he may come to love her. She was everything he wasn't. He was night and she was day but with her in his life his night was no longer dark and lonely.

"What about that chink you've been hanging with? He looks more your age. Y'all seem to be friendly." He said.

"Glenn? He's just a friend and he's just a boy. Daryl your a man and your who I want." She said while wrapping her arms around his waist. He tensed up but after a few minutes relax in her embrace and he slide an arm around her shoulder.

"Ya know that if people find out ill be thrown in jail? Your seventeen and I'm almost twenty eight. That almost an eleven year difference. You sure you want this?"He asked.

"Daryl..I've never been more sure of anything in my life. But if you don't want me then I'll understand..." She said holding tighter to him.

Of course he wanted her. Was he really willing to go to jail for her? Definitely. But he hoped that no one would find out. Once she turned eighteen that no-one could say anything. But was he really ready to be with her? He just didn't know what to do but the thought of another man touching her had his chest tightening and he knew that he wouldn't be able to stand it.

"If your willin' to have me." He said.

Abby smiled against his chest and held him tighter to her and he wrapped both arms around her small frame. "So does that mean your my boyfriend now?"

Daryl smirked. "Nah..i ain't no boy. I'm your man and your my women."

Standing up on her tip toes she tries to kiss him but with the height difference, she just managed to brush her lips across his chin. Chuckling he leans down and lightly kisses her and after a few minutes, he helps her into his truck and drives her home after making a stop to find her some hair dye to fix her blonde hair.

"Here, this is the closest I could find to your hair color." He say tossing her the box.

"Umm...could you help? I over bleached my hair so I don't want to mess up." She asks sheepishly.

Groaning he takes the box and pulls her into her bathroom and leans her head over the sink and ruins water over her hair.

"Cold!" She shrieks and yanks her head back.

"Shit! Abby! Watch it!" Daryl yells.

Turning around Daryl's shirt was soaked from her throwing her hair back. "ops...Sorry.." she says laughing.

"Oh haha.." He glares while pulling his soaked shirt off. "Now lean back over so I can fix your hair."

"Yes sir!" she giggles.

"Oh shut it." He smirks.


	8. Chapter 8

"Daryl!" Abby whispers in a panic while nudging his shoulder. Abby learned quickly that Daryl was a heavy sleeper after getting off work and it was sometimes almost impossible to wake him up. "Daryl Dixon! Wake up!" she whispers while shaking him back and forth.

"Wha?" He says opening one eye.

"Daryl! My parents are pulling up! You need to leave before they see you in my bed!" she says while getting up and throwing him his jacket and opening her window.

"damn it...I feel like a horny teenager with all this sneaking around.." He grunts while climbing out of the window and walking away.

"psstt!"

Groaning he turns back towards her window and raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"You didn't kiss me good-bye..."She whispers while her face flushes red. Smirking he walks back and leans into the window and places his lips to her's for a second then walks off back to his trailer. Sighing she shuts her window and pulls back the curtain and lays back down on her bed with a dreamy smile on her face.

Things with Daryl were great but at times he treated her more like a child then a girlfriend...She absolutely adored him but it seemed like their relationship was still the same. The only thing that has really changed between them is that he would come to her house when her parent's were gone and they would lay in her bed until he fell asleep. They wouldn't hold hands or even touch while they laid there. He always stayed at least an inch away from her at all times and he would barely kiss her and they hadn't gone any further since that night at the bar. Abby wasn't complaining, she was happy just knowing that Daryl wanted to be with her and that's all that truly mattered to her.

She was also happy to be back to normal. Her bleach hair and revealing clothes were no more. Her hair was now a soft brown and Daryl made sure to toss her outfit in the trash first chance he got. He made it quite clear that she was not to do that again.

Merle still didn't know about their relationship and Daryl was freakin' out. He had to tell him because of how close he was to Abby and he knew Merle wouldn't let it go. He decided to tell him as soon as he got back from his job as a mechanic. The longer he waited the more nervous he became inside and by the time her heard his older brother's bike he was close to having a panic attack.

"What's up lil'bro." Merle said while walking into the house.

"Uh..Merle I gotta talk to ya man..."

"Whats got ya panties all in a twist?" He said snickering as Daryl shifted back and forth on the balls of his feet.

"I'm uh..Damn it...man I'm kinda seein' Abby." Daryl replied while waiting for his brother's reaction.

"No...lil'bro tell me ya didn't..." He said frowning

"It's not like I planned it...It just happened.."

"Tha fuck ya mean it 'just happened'?!" Merle shouted. "What did ya do to her?!"

"No man!...nothin' like that! She showed up at the bar the other night and was grinding on sum guy and I flipped out and pulled her outside and I kinda...kissed her." He said. "Merle, I kinda like Abby and we are seein' eachother now..."

"Listen here lil'brother, If you hurt that girl it'll be me and my size twelve boot that you'll answer to. I won't hesitate to stomp yer ass if your just messin' with that girl."

Daryl was fuming on the inside "Why tha hell you so protective of her anyway?! Huh?!"

Sighing Merle shook his head. His brother needs to know but it wasn't his place to say. First chance he got he would talk to Abby and get her to tell him. "Daryl don't you go an get an attitude with me ya hear?"

"Whatever. I'm goin' to sleep." He said as he went to his room.

The next few days Abby wasn't able to spend much time with Daryl as her mother had taken a few days off since Abby was feeling sicker. She enjoyed the time with her mother but missed Daryl.

"Abby? Are you all right dear?" her mother asked.

"Oh! I'm fine mom, just a little bored. It's been a while since we've been able to spend time together and I want to do something other then sit around all day." She said.

Sighing her mother shook her head. "Abigail...I understand that you want to go out and have fun but it isn't good for you to over exert yourself. You have just a two more treatments until we find out if the chemo is working or if we need to get you a bone marrow transplant."

"Over exert myself? How can I do that when all I do is sit here in this house by myself and do nothing?!" She argued.

"Abigail. I'm not fighting you on this. We are done discussing this." she scolded. "Why don't you go read a book and rest."

"Whatever..." she mumbled while walking from the living room to her bedroom. 'why is it that even when one of them are home they still ignore me?' she asked herself.

Picking out a book she laid down on the bed and opened it to the first page and began to read. She had been reading for no more then ten minutes when her mom called out to her from the hallway.

"Abby darling!" her mother shouted

"Yes?" she asked sitting up on her elbows.

"I'm going out for a few hours. I'll call you later to check up on you. Bye!" Her mother shouted as the door slammed shut.

'Great...All alone again...' she thought.

Picking up her phone she sent a quick text message to Daryl to see what he was doing and only had to wait for a minute for a reply.

'_Nothin' _was his short answer.

Laughing Abby sent him another message. '_Wanna hang out?' _

Snorting at the _'I guess' _he sent she shook her head and rolled her eyes.

Surprisingly when Daryl finally showed up he brought a few movies for them to watch and brought along a case of beer. Sometimes it really shocked her on how adult like he was. He was the very definition of a man. He drank beer, drove a truck, had a job, his own place and even smoke cigarettes while the only adult thing she had ever done was kiss. For most of the movie Abby would sneak glances at Daryl and she felt as though she wasn't good enough for him.

Daryl on the other hand was growing annoyed at the not so discreet looks. "What is it?" he sighed while throwing his arm across the back of the couch lazily.

"What do you mean?" She asked confused.

"You've been givin' me these looks since I got here. What gives?"

"It's just...never mind...it's childish.." She whispered.

"Hey now.. none of that ya hear me?" He said lifting her chin up. "Tell me what's botherin' ya."

Looking into his deep baby blues she couldn't refuse. "It's just that we really don't know each other very well and the more I think about it the more it doesn't make sense that your with me and I guess I'm afraid that your just going to get tired of me..."

"Is that all?" he smirked. "Abby you need to stop worrying about things like that."

Frowning she gave him stern look. "What's that suppose to mean Daryl?"

"It means that if I didn't like ya I wouldn't be here."

"But what if you decide that I'm not good enough and you rather have a big breasted women as your girlfriend instead of me?" she asked.

Shaking his head he looked back at her with a serious scowl. "Girl...Listen here cause I'm only gonna say this once...I never had a girl worth keeping and I ain't ever had a girlfriend."

"You never had a girlfriend?" Abby asked shocked.

"Nope. Never." He replied.

"Why? It seems like your pretty popular with women."

"Those girls are not the relationship type. They were just a quick fuck." He said.

"Eh!" she squeaked embarrassed by his vulgar word. "Daryl!"

He couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. She was so sweet and innocent. She wore her emotions on her sleeve. It made him want to tease her just so he could see her face flush red.

Smirking he leaned over where he was just a few inches from her face "What? Ya getting all embarrassed at the word, Fuck?"

"I...It...It's just so.." She stuttered. She could feel his breath brushing her face and her pulse quickened. He was so close that if she leaned in their lips would touch. She wanted him to kiss her again but didn't know what to do. Should she just lean in or wait to see if he will kiss her on his own? He hadn't tried anything since their kiss at the bar and maybe he was waiting for her to make the first move this time?


End file.
